Mother of ‘Messiah’ ordered to change baby’s name after Christian judge rules it a conflict with her beliefs

A baby named “Messiah” must be renamed, according to a judge in Tennessee, because Messiah is a ‘earned’ title in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

The mother, Jaleesa Martin of Newport, Tenn., is appealing the decision handed down by Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew, who renamed the 7-month-old child “Martin DeShawn McCullough,” after the parents came to her in a dispute over the child’s last name, according to the Tennesseean. The new name includes both parent’s last names but leaves out Messiah, “which is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” Ballew said.

“It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is,” Judge Ballew said, according to WBIR in Newport.